Sara Cline-Howland

SARA CLINE-HOWLAND (‘10) was interested in history and politics while in high school, and a major in political science seemed like a natural fit. While at the U of I, she became President of her sorority and of the Panhellenic Council, and was a participant in the Civic Leadership Program.

After graduation, Sara worked as a consultant for a time, and is now is in the healthcare field, serving as a process improvement leader at Northwestern Memorial Healthcare in Chicago. She feels that her background in political science prepared her very well for her career, and argues that “being inquisitive, trying to get to the root cause of issues, developing [a] work ethic and understanding how to accomplish tasks in a time sensitive manner…” are traits of all political science majors, regardless of their career goals.

To make the most of the time students have at the University and in the Department of Political Science, Sara urges them to “think critically about which courses you take and treat the credits you have left as extremely precious – try to make the most of them and take interesting classes.” She also recommends that students get to know their professors, who can be great resources for them even after graduation.